Gavin Berry: We'll make sure Scotland is represented at the World Cup in Brazil

GAVIN and fellow Record Sport reporter Scott McDermott are heading to Brazil for the trip of a lifetime after saving their cash for five years - and are preparing to take on a team of locals on a favela pitch that used to be a killing field for drug gangs.

Daily Record and Sunday Mail writing duo Gavin Berry and Scott McDermott who are heading off to the Brazil World Cup

THE waiting is nearly over until the big one in Brazil.

No, not tonight’s World Cup curtain-raiser between the hosts and Croatia in Sao Paulo.

The match I’m talking about takes place in Rio de Janeiro but not the iconic Maracana Stadium.

Instead it will be on a rundown pitch, surrounded by rusty fencing, which was used as an execution site by drug gangs.

On one side barefooted Brazilians. And on the other a team of beer-bellied Scots.

A group of us, including Record Sport colleague Scott McDermott, head to Brazil next week for a once-in-a-lifetime World Cup trip.

The idea actually came in the middle of Scotland’s doomed attempt to qualify for the last tournament in South Africa.

To be precise, we were sitting at Skopje airport in June 2009 after having watched Scotland’s Group Nine rivals Macedonia and Norway battle out a 0-0 draw.

George Burley and his men were already looking unlikely to qualify but we thought: “Even if Scotland aren’t going to be there, why can’t we?”

A quick search on travel websites showed the price of a short trip to Rio and we realised that for just £5 a week (the price of a pint in some pubs) the dream could be a reality.

A bank account was soon set up with £20 a head going in a month and a week was picked where we knew there would be two games in the Maracana, without knowing who would be playing.

We assembled at Glasgow’s Boteco Do Brasil (check out Gary Ralston’s restaurant review on Saturday) last December to watch the draw and landed Ecuador v France and Belgium v Russia – where we’re hoping for a repeat of the 1986 World Cup classic.

And while the Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer and Caipirinha cocktails are high on the to-do list it’s another item that has captured the imagination.

Brazil’s favelas – the slums built high into the slopes of the major cities – are a must-see for tourists who would once never have dared enter these lawless communities.

And part of our tour will include a kickabout with locals in Rocinha, Brazil’s largest favela which is home to 70,000 people and was visited by the England squad this week.

DJ Zezinho of the Rocinha Favela Community in Rio

Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo won’t be in sight. But there will be plenty of heavyweight – McDermott – talent in our ranks.

The organiser simply asked for our average age and will assemble a team he hopes will make for an even match.

Regardless of that we’re sure to be left red-faced with famous Brazilian talent like Romario and Adriano having emerged from the favelas where football is seen as the only way out.

But it will be an experience and the match is followed by beer and BBQ with the guys who’ve just taken 10 goals off us. It’s all about scratching beneath the surface of one of the world’s great cities.

Former Scotland cap Andy McLaren is due to be in Rio and also hopes to visit the favelas. Through his A&M coaching he helps underprivileged kids in Glasgow with football and dance and wants to hand out kit to the youngsters in Rocinha. Our tour has been booked for almost a year yet the closer we get the more anxious some of our team become.

Jokes have been flying – “Don’t shout ‘shoot’ if you’re in possession or you may get more than you bargained for”. But there is a serious side. Favelas are a source of shame for many Brazilians and the government embarked on a clean-up operation ahead of the World Cup.

Tours of the shanty towns are the topic of fierce debate, critics comparing them to a trip to the zoo with wealthy tourists peering into homes of the poor.

But our guide Renato da Silva, or Zezinho as he prefers to be known, insists such excursions provide vital income for the communities. He said: “I wanted people to see our reality. We don’t live in a war zone, we’re not all drug dealers or thieves.

“We’re just people who make less money and have found a creative way of living. It’s not about gawking at the poor, its about bringing people together for better understanding.

“Our tourism is about having people experience favela life and interact with residents. All the money I make from tourism goes back into the favela economy.”